Travel Pass Process for School Transport - Find a freedom of information request

I write to seek redress of the overtly complicated and long drawn out system the Lincolnshire School Transport Team applications employs in order to obtain a travel pass. However, before I escalate this potential complaint further I need to ascertain:

1. How many applications you receive each term?

2. How long each administrative process takes to issue a pass and more specifically once like in our case payment has been received and approval has been authorised?

3. How many people are employed on the team to issue these passes? (5000 applications over 8 people per day over 3 months is 10 per day)

4. Therefore how do I acquire this information? And if under a freedom of information request what is your department's process for this and what is the complaints procedure?

1. The Council holds data based on the start date of the transport and not the date applications are received. The below shows the number of applications received with a start date in the respective term, but these applications may have been received at different points throughout the year.

2020/21:

• Term 1 Sept – Dec – 7166
• Term 2 Jan – March – 801
• Term 3 – April – July – 1004

2. Shown below is text taken from the LCC website regarding the transport application process:

We aim to process school transport applications within 20 working days; however, some may take longer.

If your application for school transport was not submitted before the week commencing 16 August then you have missed the deadline and you should make other arrangements for your child to travel to school from the start of term.

Your application will still be processed as quickly as possible and we will contact you to confirm transport arrangements as soon as possible.

If your child has a transport entitlement but you have not received details for their transport yet please bear with us. School transport is taking longer than normal to arrange.

Details and a bus pass, where appropriate, will be sent as soon as possible. If you are worried that your application has exceeded 20 days then you can email TSG@lincolncolnshire.gov.uk to check its status.

Personal details have not been provided so we are unable to comment on “like our case” however we can confirm that as at 21 September 2021, 12,101 bus passes have been issued. 1,066 relate to Post 16 students that have made a Post 16 Transport Contribution Payment.

Confirming transport arrangements can range from approximately 15 minutes through to several days depending if existing transport contracts exist or if a new arrangement is required. As at 21-09-2021 18,419 transport arrangements have been confirmed.

3. Mainstream Team contain 5.84 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) members of staff

4. Your request has been handled as a Freedom of Information Request. You can make a request under FOI to Lincolnshire County Council in writing using LCC’s website ( https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/comments-feedback/make-freedom-information-request ) or by emailing the Customer Information Service at: CustomerInformationService@lincolnshire.gov.uk

A link to LCC’s Freedom of Information policy is available on LCC’s website at the link above.

A link to LCC’s Complaints Policy is available at the following link:

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/2426/complaints-policypdfa#:~:text=COMPLAINTS%20POLICY%20The%20Policy%20that%20Lincolnshire%20Count y%20Council,staff%20member%20or%20representative%20of%20the%20Local%20Authority